Venezuela Frees Political Prisoners, Pledges to ‘Rescue’ Maduro

(Bloomberg) — Venezuela continued releasing political prisoners on Saturday, including a member of opposition leader María Corina Machado’s party, a week after President Nicolás Maduro was captured by US forces.

Venezuelan authorities released at least five people, including Virgilio Laverde, youth coordinator for Machado’s Vente Venezuela party in the southern state of Bolívar, the human rights organization Foro Penal confirmed on X. 

The release of political prisoners is one of the oppositions’ main demands following the apprehension of Maduro on Jan. 3 and President Donald Trump’s claims that the US is running the oil-rich Latin American country.

Venezuela’s National Assembly head Jorge Rodríguez said on Thursday that a significant number of prisoners would be released as a gesture of peace. So far, the number has not reached two dozen, while Foro Penal estimates there are more than 800 political prisoners in the country.

Among the first prisoners released are Biagio Pilieri, a former lawmaker and Machado ally; Enrique Márquez, a former vice president of the opposition-led National Assembly and electoral authority, and five Spanish citizens. 

During an event at a food market on Saturday, acting President Delcy Rodriguez said Venezuela won’t stop condemning Maduro’s detention. “We will not rest until we have President Maduro back; we are going to rescue him,” she said, without mentioning the new releases of prisoners.

Trump said he had canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela following cooperation from the South American nation, with American diplomats visiting Caracas, the country’s capital. 

The US president signed an executive order on Saturday to safeguard Venezuelan oil revenue held in US Treasury accounts, blocking it from the Latin American country’s creditors and preventing its seizure to satisfy debts or other legal claims, according to a White House fact sheet. 

On Friday, major US oil executives expressed caution about Trump’s push for them to spend at least $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela, with the head of Exxon Mobil Corp. calling the nation currently “uninvestable.”

–With assistance from Andreina Itriago.

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